1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to dissipating heat generated by components of a printed circuit board. More particularly, the present invention relates to a heatsink attachment mechanism that supports heatsinks and utilizes existing mounting holes on a printed circuit board for attachment purposes.
2. Description of the Related Art
The power dissipation of electrical components, e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and processors, is increasing while the amount of available space on printed circuit boards for cooling devices is decreasing. As such, the space available to accommodate heatsinks and heat spreaders is often insufficient to meet the cooling needs associated with various components. Further, mechanical fasteners are often needed to secure heatsinks and heat spreaders to printed circuit boards which have relatively high power dissipating components, as the thermal impedance associated with pressure sensitive adhesives is often insufficient.
Routing constraints, layout constraints, and signal integrity requirements for printed circuit boards that include many components with relatively high power dissipation are often such that it is difficult or even impossible to include mounting holes or mechanical fastening holes that may be used to secure heatsinks or heat spreaders over the components.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and an apparatus which allows heatsinks to be incorporated into assemblies in which there are few dedicated mounting holes for the heatsinks. That is, what is desired is a method and an apparatus which allows heatsinks to be mounted using holes of a printed circuit board that are typically intended for other purposes.